Former San Diego, Calif. mayor Bob Filner pleaded guilty to a series of false imprisonment and battery charges involving three women, in a case that resulted in his expulsion from office after victims claiming they'd been sexually harassed by the politician came forward.
Filner, who left his position in August and initially vehemently denied he was involved in the crimes, saying that he was the victim of a "lynch mob," was charged with one felony count of false imprisonment by violence, fraud, menace and deceit, along with two misdemeanor counts of battery, according to the California attorney general's office, which spoke with the New York Times.
Filner will serve three years of probation and has been ordered to go through mental health treatment under the terms of a plea bargain publicized Tuesday morning, the Times reported. Filner will also be on house arrest for three months under the probation outlines - during that time, he cannot serve on a jury or carry a gun. Filner also is banned from working in politics for life, and must surrender his pension starting from the first date of his offense, March 6, 2012, until the date of his resignation, Aug. 23.
"This conduct was not only criminal, it was also an extreme abuse of power," Kamala Harris, the state attorney general who announced the plea bargain, told the court. "This prosecution is about consequence and accountability. No one is above the law."
The city of San Diego agreed to foot the bill for most of Filner's legal fees as a stipulation of his resignation.
17 women came forward earlier this year with accusations that the former mayor had sexually harassed them by groping, kissing, or embracing them in something that became known as the Filner headlock - the politician maintained that the harmless act of affection was nothing more than a hug, but the group of women described it as blatant harassment.
Filner was the first Democratic elected mayor in San Diego in more than 20 years, the New York Times reported. Before he was mayor, Filner was a San Diego representative in Congress for over two decades.
